The invention relates to a method for implementing call acceptance groups in a communications network having a plurality of network nodes.
In many contemporary switching devices, terminals which are connected to them can be combined to form a so-called call acceptance group. That serves the purpose of enabling calls which are directed to any desired terminal of such a call acceptance group to also be accepted by any other terminal of that call acceptance group. For that purpose, the arrival of a call directed to a terminal of the call acceptance group is also displayed at the other terminals of the call acceptance group. After a call acceptance key or the like has been activated at one of the terminals of the call acceptance group, the call is connected through to the terminal by the switching device.
Such a performance feature is made available, for example, by the switching device HICOM 300 E, Version 2.0 from Siemens AG which is commercially available.
A restriction of the previously known methods for implementing such call acceptance groups is that a call acceptance group can include only terminals which are connected to the same switching device.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a method for implementing call acceptance groups, which overcomes the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known methods of this general type, which is more flexible and with which the restriction explained above can be overcome.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a method for implementing call acceptance groups in a communications network having a plurality of network nodes, which comprises after an arrival of a call for a called terminal coupled to a first network node, determining another network node coupled to at least one terminal assigned to the called terminal as a call acceptance group; transferring a signaling information item, for identifying the call acceptance group terminals coupled to the other network node, from the first network node to the other network node; subsequently causing, with the other network node, an indicator information item, referring to a possibility of the call being accepted, to be displayed at the call acceptance group terminals coupled to the network node; signaling an acceptance of the call, at a call acceptance group terminal coupled to the other network node, through the other network node to the first network node; and subsequently connecting the call, held at the first network node, through to the terminal.
The method according to the invention can be used to assign to a terminal a call acceptance group which includes not only terminals that are connected to the same network node but also terminals which are connected to any other network nodes of the communications network. In this case, the field of application of the method is not restricted to a specific type of network node, for example switching stations, but rather extends to any desired network nodes of a communications network with connected terminals, for example to mobile radio base stations as well.
The assignment of a call acceptance group to a terminal can be determined by the association of this terminal with a definable group of terminals. In this case, each terminal of this group is assigned the same call acceptance group, to be precise the group itself. This has the advantage of ensuring that a call acceptance group can very easily be formed or changed by storing the respective terminal identifiers in a table contained in the network nodes in question.
An alternative is that each terminal of a call acceptance group which is assigned to a first terminal can be assigned its own call acceptance group. The call acceptance group does not need to correspond to the call acceptance group which has been assigned to the first terminal. As a result, a more complex configuration is possible with this alternative. In particular, a terminal can then be included in a plurality of different call acceptance groups.
In accordance with another mode of the invention, the signaling information and/or the information relating to the acceptance of the call can be transferred through a connection which has been set up between the network nodes for this purpose, preferably a signaling connection, for example CISC (Call Independent Signaling Connection). In this context, a connection setup can be initiated by an incoming call.
In accordance with a further alternative mode of the invention, the information which is to be transmitted can also be transferred through an already existing connection. As a result, a time-consuming new setup of a connection is avoided.
In this context it is advantageous if a connection between the network nodes which is used for transferring the signaling information and/or the information relating to the acceptance of a call is not released again until after a predefinable time period since the acceptance of a call. In this way, the same connection can be used for the signaling of further calls which arrive during this time period.
With a channel-oriented connection, the signaling information and/or the information relating to the acceptance of a call can advantageously be transmitted within a signaling channel, for example the D channel of an ISDN connection.
In accordance with a concomitant mode of the invention, call-specific information is also transferred to the other network node, together with the signaling information. In this way, it is possible, for example, to transfer the call number and/or the name of the calling and/or called subscriber to the further network node so that it can be displayed at the terminals of the call acceptance group which are coupled to this network node.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a method for implementing call acceptance groups in a communications network, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction and method of operation of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.